After Darwin blew the doors off the scientific community, a lot of people did some weird and unscientific stuff with his ideas. Francis Galton and a few others decided natural selection could be used to make the human race "better" and...

It's Earth Science time!!!! In this field, natural philosophers were asking questions like, what’s up with fossils? Are they the remains of extinct organisms? Or are they so-called “sports of nature”—rocks that just happen to look like...

There’s a question to consider that’s pretty daunting: what is life?

And to try to answer that question, three tools stand out as being especially useful: A book, some experiments, and the microscope! In this episode, Hank talks to...

"Survival of the Fittest" sounds like a great WWE show but today we're talking about that phrase as it relates to Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Darwin and Wallace are at the heart of understanding evolution and natural selection....

Science has come a long way in understanding how our universe works and that road has been full of wrong turns and dead ends. Here are 6 scientific explanations that turned out to be way off track.

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The human eye is an amazing mechanism, able to detect anywhere from a few photons to a few quadrillion, or switch focus from the screen in front of you to the distant horizon in a third of a second. How did these complex structures...

Is our universe a definitive single reality or is it merely one within an infinitely branching multiverse?

Today we're going to tell the story of a quiet revolution in the 1960s that shifted our entire understanding of how the Earth works. We currently believe that the Earth's broken outer shell rises from the mantle and folds back in - kind...

So we've been talking about civil rights for the last few episodes now, and we're finally going to wrap this discussion up with the rather controversial topic of affirmative action. We'll explain what exactly affirmative action is, who...

We used to think having a distinct left and right brain was something unique to humans. But brain lateralization has now been found in everything from chickens to spiders! Does this change our theories for why some brains work that way?

Loneliness isn’t much fun, but it might also be harmful to your heart—not just in a metaphorical sense, but your actual physical heart, as well as some of your body's other functions.

People used to say being bilingual was bad for your brain. Now, we know that's not true—but does it actually make you smarter?

In today's Crash Course Astronomy, Phil takes a look at the explosive history of our cosmic backyard. We explore how we went from a giant ball of gas to the system of planets and other celestial objects we have today.

Paul Andersen explains the importance of genetic variation within a population. He begins with a discussion of the devil facial tumor that is a form of cancer transferred between Tasmanian devils. He then explains how a decrease in...

All life on Earth— living and inanimate, microscopic and cosmic— is governed by mathematical laws with apparently arbitrary constants. And this opens up a question: If the universe is completely governed by these laws, couldn't a...

How did we get here? Well, in terms of Atomic Chemistry, Hank takes us on a tour of the folks that were part of the long chain of other folks who helped us get to these deeper understandings of the world. From Leucippus to...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how scientific theories are created and modified over time. He starts by discussing the theory of natural selection as a model for the creation and modification of theories. He gives examples of...

In which John Green teaches you about one of the least funny subjects in history: slavery. John investigates when and where slavery originated, how it changed over the centuries, and how Europeans and colonists in the Americas arrived at...

The word "mole" suggests a small, furry burrowing animal to many. But in this lesson, we look at the concept of the mole in chemistry. Learn the incredible magnitude of the mole--and how something so big can help us calculate the tiniest...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how chemical reactions progress as bonds are broken and reformed reformed. He explains the difference between changes in state and changes in molecules. He discussed collision theory and explains...

When someone says they’re “studying business” or they “work in business,” they could mean so many different things. They could be in marketing, sales, finance or human resources. So much goes into keeping a company running smoothly.

Interpersonal relationships are important to humans, but there are also times when these relationships can be unhealthy.

English is fast becoming the world's universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year. So why bother learning a foreign language? Linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four alluring benefits...

At TEDIndia, Mallika Sarabhai, a dancer/actor/politician, tells a transformative story in dance -- and argues that the arts may be the most powerful way to effect change, whether political, social or personal.